I have always found it amazing how new tricks, ideas, or routines come into this world. Sheer luck and mere chance seem to play a far greater role in their conception and delivery than any logical thinker could ever imagine.

Take the following example about Joe Karson’s creation of the famous “Zombie”, a wonderful story (if true) which I have come across only recently in Frank Garcia‘s “New York News” in an old issue of "Magic Manuscript" (Vol. 4, Issue 4, p. 45):

"Incredible as it may seem, the trick called 'Zombie' was invented by the late Joe Karson quite by accident. He bought a house and everything was fine but the toilet commode didn’t function, so Joe started taking the commode apart. He removed the balance ball attached to the rod and dried it with a towel. He then came upon the idea of making it a floating ball. The rest is magical history!"

Any similar stories that you are aware of and would care to share here?

That is a great topic. I love seeing things like this in the world of science (where it is pretty common) as well as the world of magic. I am sure magic has lots of examples. I remember seeing your post on this on your blog recently and being tickled by that story behind Zombie.

One quick example that comes to mind is the brilliant optical illusion display used in Dr Strangetrick by Michael Close. On the L+L video - Close mentions that a reader of the Workers book where this was first published misread the instructions and accidentally invented the killer display that is now used instead. I remember him saying he was an amateur magician who was also a pilot.

However, my name is never connected with the effect. Here's what happened:

Mel Stover was an eccentric Canadian magician. Back in the mists of time, Howard Lyons and Bob Weill used to have a small magic convention at a hotel called the Oban Inn in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario, Canada. Mel and I always attended.

The Oban Inn (now sadly gone) was an old hotel and in every room it seemed that everything that had a horizontal surface had a mirror on it. Mel always had something interesting and that day he had a Lubor Fiedler die. It was weighted so that you could show it as a blank die, then drop it in a glass and shake the glass and suddenly the spots would appear.

I was examining the die after Mel showed it to me and I happened to put it on the dresser and on the mirror and that's when I noticed the effect. I pointed it out to Mel and I called it vampire die--it casts no reflection. Mel jumps up, grabs the die and heads out the door.

A few hours later, Mel has found a small mirror and is showing everyone the vampire die. I "invented" it but Mel showed it around after that, so he gets credit for publicizing it. Later someone else added the end bit where a real die appears from under the mirror.

Magic lore has it that Okito discovered what later became the Okito Box by chance when toying around with a regular (but specific) pill box.

Max Auzinger developed the "Black Art" principle when he realized during rehearsal for a play (he was a director) that all he could see from the black face of an actor before a black background were his white eyes and teeth.

These examples illustrate, as well as Karson's Zombie mentioned above, a frequent principle in creation (in fact, much more frequent than actually inventing something from scratch): observing a phenomenon in its natural context, realizing its potential, and finally transferring it successfully to a completely different context--magic, in our case.

I shall have to check it out but I have a vague recollection that Leipzig invented it but Allan Shaw heard about it and stole it. I vaguely remember something about Horace Goldin telling Shaw about it and then he claimed it as his own.. Of course I may well have my facts all wrong but I will check it out and report back.

Another interesting aspect is creation out of necessity or abundant supply. Think about corporate gigs which demand a special integration of a product into a routine or two (and hopefully lead to better ideas than just pulling them out of a Square Circle).

In "Magic Page by Page", Patrick Page describes how he created "Double Mirage", a variation of "One in the Middle":

The reason I devised it was that I had a lot of blank backed Jokers, so it was just a case of getting some blank faced cards and ordinary Jokers of which I had hundreds and I was in business again with a new trick to sell. (p.234)

Page also mentions that he created "Chameleon Clown" for Tony Corinda, who lacked any tricks in his studio for the entertainment of children at that time and who thought that "a trick with a picture of a clown would show up well on his studio wall." (p.242)

Another example: After he had acquired some plastic moulding machinery, German magician, inventor and dealer Werner Geissler-Werry sort of flooded the market with plastic products like chips, boxes, tubes, and rings. Many of those were used for more than one trick for reasons of scale (and not always for the benefit of the effect). His reputation was such that when he introduced his new girlfriend to his magic buddies at a convention, a surprised Joro (of Joro Switch fame) exclaimed: "But she's not made of plastic!"

Zig Zagger wrote:Max Auzinger developed the "Black Art" principle when he realized during rehearsal for a play (he was a director) that all he could see from the black face of an actor before a black background were his white eyes and teeth.